SECOND OPINION
Having only ridden the DR-Z250 on the road,
not the trails, my viewpoint on how it handles is
certainly a little one-sided. Sure, Jock loved it on
the dirt but my riding was on the opposite side of
the ‘dual-sport’ coin. That’s fine because Jock was
out having fun on the dirt. So, rather than bashing
through the bush, I used the bright yellow DR-Z to
hack through Auckland city traffic as an out-and-
out commuter machine.
When first setting eyes on the tall and, very
obviously, dirt-biased Suzuki I thought it was
huge. I’d just come off a Suzuki DR200, and at
171cm I’m not short by any stretch, but it was a
touch tall for me – even in my slightly heeled bike
boots! I also didn’t think it would be any use as
a commuter because of its hard-core dirt looks,
but it turned out to be pretty damn good after
all. You see, its yellow flanks are skinny enough
to fit between cars and it’s agile enough to weave
its way in and out of traffic, even if I did find it a
touch heavy for a 250cc due to its sheer physical
size… well, compared to the less huge, road-
biased 250s I’ve been riding anyway.
The throttle does require some encouragement
on the road to keep up with 100km/h traffic,
however it’s not exactly designed for the
motorways I was riding it on anyway. I can
imagine on the trails it’d have plenty of easy-to-
use get up and go. Anyway, it’s a LOT quicker than
the little DR200 I’d been riding before it. I did find
the throttle a little on/off in slow traffic but it’s
something that I mostly got used to and changed
my style to ride around.
While the bike is fun, the steering lock was
something that frustrated me greatly. I’d not
ridden a bike with the steering lock built into the
steering head before – one that’s separate to
the ignition barrel. I found it incredibly stiff and it
sticks out a fair bit when the key is in it… so much
so, that on one occasion I moved the bars to the
right to try and lock the steering and I bent the
key! It then wouldn’t go into the ignition and I had
to get a whole new key cut. Needless to say that
was a stressful afternoon. So, if you’re looking
to buy a DR-Z250, remember to always turn the
front wheel to the left and be aware that the key
can be snapped off if you leave it in the lock!
That said, I did enjoy riding this bike, even if it
wasn’t for the purpose it was designed. It would
make the ideal learner bike for commuting
and would excel at riding on the trails. The
ride is smooth and the dirtbike seat is pretty
comfortable for a female bottom too (probably
for any bottom in fact).
EVE LAWRENCE